Saturday, November 05, 2016

Stop complaining about Apple's USB-C transition

Wow, Apple got some heat when they announced the updated MacBook Pros with just USB-C ports. They're feeling that heat too, I can't remember a time when they have responded to criticism by cutting the prices of products like this.

Rather than focussing on the annoyance of needing dongles to convert from USB-C to USB-A, HDMI, DisplayPort, SD Card, and many others; I propose that we marvel in the genius of this new standard.

The USB-C connector is slim and strong. You can plug in either way up. The same socket can charge, output video, connect to a wired network, and even extend the PCI bus outside the box potentially to cards in a rack. One laptop can even charge another (the first one you plug in supplies power to the second). The monitor can charge the laptop via the cable being used for video and extend USB.

When I told loyal PC guy Theo on the bus that the new MacBook Pro could drive four 4K monitors he flat out didn't believe me.

We are in a transition. For a period of time we'll need either dongles or docks but soon peripherals with USB-C cables or sockets will take over and the dongles will disappear. Wireless from cameras needs to get better (maybe Apple should license a form of AirDrop?).

Apple said that they showed "courage" in removing the headphone jack from this year's iPhone. I think the real courage they're showing is going all in with USB-C. The next step would be to put USB-C on the iPhone.